Perfect
by ShrineMaidenRika
Summary: "Neru, I dont think you fully understand what youve gotten yourslf into," He said as his knowing eyes glowed red. People keep disappearing, secret are revealing themselves, pulling Neru along a twisted path of betrayal. sorry I suck at descriptions!
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so this is my first FanFiction so don't hate if you don't like it. At least I tried! Rated M for violence and death and other scary crap, not lemons. I'm sorry if Neru is a little OOC. **

**Contagious**

I walked along beside the desolate road, thinking.

I let my breath out in a long sigh. "I hate this! I must be the most unpopular person in my school! Just because people would rather suck up to Miku than be bother trying to be my friend," I said, talking to myself as I did so many times.

I turned a corner into the town square. I felt my lips curl up into a smile as I looked around. I loved to come here when I was in a bad mood. No one ever bothered me.

You see, the people in this town can be so very superstitious. Around ten years ago a gruesome double murder took place here. Right in this square in fact. Two young girls were the victims. One was stabbed multiple times. The other was thrown off the clock tower in the square, all the bones in her body broken.

"But seriously. You'd think death was contagious the way those idiots avoid this place," I scoffed, walking slowly to the center of the square, taking in my surroundings.

The square was just about as bleak as the rest of this side of town. A few boarded up buildings that were probably businesses once. A simple fountain in the middle, murky water still sitting inside it.

I walked around the fountain, trailing my fingers along the rough edge. Looking up I saw my favorite place, the clock tower. Taller than any other building by far. It was beautiful. A gothic style building, its dark bricks crumbling from the sides though the brass bell still gleamed as if it was new. At the very top of the building there was an old, dirty clock face that still worked even after being abandoned for so long. There was a large opening at the very top of the building, but there was no way to get up there.

I ran up to the tower and threw the door open, quickly climbing the steep stairs, only slowing down when I reached the huge bell. I stood and stared at it, watching the sunlight gleam against the smooth surface. It wasn't much of anything really. Just an oversized bell. But the sound that came out of it was gorgeous.

Every night at midnight the bell strikes twelve times exactly. You can hear it all the way to the more populated side of town. No one knows how it still chimes so of course those idiots would say it was the girls' ghosts that did it.

"Tch. The stories people come up with. Their just scaring themselves," I muttered.

I walked around the huge bell slowly and looked around at the empty room. There were only a few small windows circling the room. The limited light created shadows in the places were it didn't reach, creating a dark and gloomy atmosphere. Other than the bell, the room was empty. Unless you counted the dust. There was enough of it to mutate and attack someone.

I looked over into a dark corner of the room and saw the stairs I had climbed to get up here and walked over to them, sending up small puffs of dust with every step I took. Right next to them were another set of stairs that went up into the top most room in the tower.

I stepped on them and took my time walking up them, since my destination wasn't as far. After a few minutes I arrived at what was probably the most interesting place in this run-down little town. I was in the room that held the mechanism for the clock. Of course, the clock being as huge as it is the mechanism is just as large. I smiled as I walked in the room. It was full of huge gears and springs that I had no idea what on earth they did, but they kept the clock going. There was light shining through the nearly transparent clock face, giving the room a soft glow. I saw a gleam out of the corner of my eye and turned to the heavy brass weights strung up on pulleys along the side of the wall.

I walked over to them and ran my hand along on of the chain pulleys before grabbing a hold of it. Yes, I am the mysterious ghost girl who keeps the clock running. It's pretty easy actually. All you have to do is pull the weights up about once a week. I pulled half-heartedly and sighed. I definitely wasn't strong enough to pull them up myself though. I stepped back a little and ran towards the weight. As soon as I was a few feet away from knocking myself unconscious (running head first into a large metal object can do that to you) I jumped and latched onto the chain, about ten feet from the ground. I wrapped my arms and legs around it as I started moving down. I could never have pulled these weights up all by myself so this was my alternative; I just jumped onto the chain of the pulley and let my weight pull it up.

There were six weights, so it took awhile. Jumping onto the chains, waiting for it to lower me to the ground, and then repeating the process. I got done eventually, even though my 98 pounds was barely enough to pull me down. I walked to the large clock face and put my hand up to it, leaning on the thick, sturdy glass. It was more than enough to support my weight. I probably couldn't break it even if I tried.

But that was just another strange thing about the girls' deaths. No one knew how the girl that jumped had jumped from. Some people had said that she had jumped from the clock tower, seeing as none of the other buildings were nearly tall enough to break every freaking bone in her body, but there was no possible way. Unless she suddenly decided she was spider-man or something and tried to climb up the side of the wall. There was that opening at the very top of the building, the window with no glass, but you couldn't get up there. Trust me; I had looked every where for some secret door or hidden stairs or something that would take me up to the mysterious room behind the shadowy opening, but there was none.

I strode away from the clock face and headed back toward the stairs and walked back down them, taking much less time than I had climbing them. It was hard to estimate how tall the building was, seeing as there were only the two rooms at the top, but it had to be about twenty stories. I sighed loudly when I finally got to the bottom of the stairs. I walked past the fountain again and turned into an alley that I knew would lead me home.

**So~ did ya like it? Good! Or not good? Well guess what I'm not psychic so I won't know unless you LEAVE A REVIEW! This is my first as I said before so please please please review because I'm paranoid that this is terrible! Anyways thank you for reading this if you bothered to do it!**

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	2. Chapter 2

**So yey! Chapter 2! I'm sorry that this took FOREVER but I'm doing this in computer class. Every time I start typing my teachers like "Lets do another pointless assignment!" So yea enjoy and all.**

**Warning: pissed off teachers and colorful rooms…**

**Contagious**

**Chapter 2**

I sighed for what felt like the twentieth today and walked back toward the town I lived in.

Hinamizawa was its name. A sad, dreary little town that nobody ever hears about. The population was around 1000 people and most of them are unbearable. I'm sorry, their just not my favorite people. I've met most of them and I just…don't like them. It's not my fault it's just as soon as they open their mouths I either get annoyed or bored. There are very few people I like and can put up with my strange self.

First there's Yowane Haku. She's my best friend. Even though she's drunk most of the time. But I think that makes her more interesting. She's nicer when she's drunk anyways. Then there's Nero, but he's my brother so he hardly even counts. I'd probably feel the same way about him even if he wasn't though. He's so innocent, but not in an annoying fake way. I feel like I have to protect him from the world so he won't be contaminated.

And of course, there's Len. He's always so nice to me, but he's nice to everybody so that probably means I'm not anymore important than everyone else. Besides, he's always to busy trying to please his annoying sister or getting Miku to notice him to think of me in any other way than a friend. I'd always liked him, even though he was three years younger than me. I saw nothing wrong with it.

I finally walked into the more popular part of town and started toward the dorm I lived in. I had lived here since I was 12, which makes five years. Almost everyone that went to Hinamizawa High lived there, except for the students whose parents lived here, or who could afford their own apartment didn't. It's sad, but the majority of the town was students. Most every one else moved away when they graduated.

Hinamizawa high is like a very well kept secret. Nearly everyone who graduates from there succeeds in life, but hardly anyone knows about it and it's extremely expensive even if you do know about it. Somehow my parents found out about it and shipped me over here. I don't even know how they afforded it; since we weren't exactly well off. Something about a special scholarship. Anyway, I got here and was enrolled immediately into the Vocaloid program, a special class for singers. I'd hardly ever sang before then but apparently I was just barely good enough to make it.

I used to be one of the best Vocaloids in my class, but then my voice wasn't high and clear and beautiful any more. My voice started getting more boyish and then Miku stole my spotlight. I suppose I'm still a little bitter about it, even though it's been years since she took advantage of me. I might have forgiven her and just let her be if she didn't keep screwing up my life. It's like every time my life starts to get better she does something stupid and messes it up. She is always there, holding me back from how good I could actually be.

Not to mention she's such an actress. She acts all sweet and innocent and nice when she's a total jack wagon. Everyone believes her little act and falls in love with her. It's like she has a cult.

"Miku can do no wrong. Yeah right," I muttered and then looked around quickly to make sure no one heard me. You never know what kind of crazy fans would jump me for saying that.

By the time I finally got to the dorm it was dark outside, the dim lamps lining the side of the road my only lighting. Curfew was ten; it had to be at least eleven by now. The last time I was late I had had to sit out side on the steps until morning. Well, until I went around to my room and got in through the window that is, but no one has to know the details.

I walked up to the door and extracted a small, brass key from my pocket, unlocking the door as quietly as I could. I winced as it clicked loudly, echoing in the silent road. I prayed no one would notice me as I silently opened the door and started creeping down the dark hall toward my room.

Unfortunately, my prayers were not answered. Not that they ever have been.

My professor was standing in the middle of the hall, glaring down at me. Enter Sakine Meiko. She's one of my teachers and unfortunately, our dorm mother. We used to have another one, a sweet tempered girl, barely a woman. Amane Luna, was her name. But one day she just… left. No explanation or anything. I came back from the tower one day and she was gone, her room empty. Everyone said she had left the night before, so as not to be seen, but I knew there was something strange going on. I had looked for any trace that might lead me to her, but found none.

The truth was, we were very close. She was like a big sister to me, even though I was more mature than her in many ways. She would always tell me everything, every little secret and insecurity. We were always close, since the first day I met her. When she came to our dorm she was so quiet and reserved she wasn't even able to control everyone. I guess it's in my nature; I just had to protect someone so sweet and innocent. I basically did her job for her, keeping all the people in the dorm in line, making sure lights were out at curfew. That's why I knew something terrible had happened to her. She definitely would have told me if she was running away.

Meiko cleared her throat loudly, bringing me back to the present. I focused on her reddish eyes and stared back at her with what I hoped was a bored expression. I couldn't let any of my annoyance show or she would assign me to some random job that the janitors should be doing. She sighed dramatically and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well?" she said, "What excuse do you have for me this time Neru?"

I cursed myself under my breath. I should have seen this coming; I hadn't come up with an excuse ahead of time.

"I was walking around town and I lost track of time. It took longer than I thought to get back here," I said, hoping I sounded sure of myself.

"Oh, really now? You seem to be coming back later and later. I might just let you go one last time though…" she trailed off and tilted her head slightly, tapping her foot against the ground. It took me a while to understand she was waiting for an apology.

"Oh! I'm, uh, sorry I was late. It won't happen again," I said quickly.

She rolled her eyes and walked over to me. "Did the room just get brighter? It took a while for that dim light bulb to go on," she said snidely as she bent down to my level and tapped my forehead, making me feel like a child. "Alright, I'll forgive you this once, but you better not be late again or I'll make sure your punishment is twice as bad."

I swallowed my sigh of relief and thanked her. She turned quickly on her heel and walked down the hall, disappearing into her office. I shook my head at her strange mood swings and walked down the opposite hall toward my room. I looked forward to sleep as I opened the door, but had a feeling my night was just about to begin.

**Once again I'm very very sorry for taking so long. I wanted this to be longer but… oh well. Hopefully next week's chapter will be longer. So…yeah thanks for reading and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Soooo this was actually supposed to be in chapter 2 but I decided that I didn't want to wait to post it any longer so I just separated them! So I'm very sorry that my chapters have been so short and I hope I can make them longer from now on. Oh and sorry that the ending of the last chapter ended kinda weirdly… **

**Oh, and I apologize if the total change of everything threw you off. This is still Contagious it's just that I finally figured out what I was going to do with this so it kind of changed… everything. Including the reason I named it contagious.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid! Unfortunately…**

**Perfect **

**Chapter 3**

I opened the door to my room and stepped in. I turned around and shut the door quietly and turned back around, leaning against the door. I narrowed my eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the dark room.

My vision finally came back and I looked around. There were two small beds; one currently occupied by an unidentifiable lump that I knew was my roommate, Haku. Who else would it be? I groaned as I thought that and sighed heavily. I'd always had an overactive imagination. I can't take a shower without sticking my head out and looking for Jack the ripper or something.

I started creeping towards the bed, jumping as the lump moved. I stood by the side of the bed and reached for the edge of the purple cover, but stopped. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to think of the things that could be underneath, unsuccessfully of course. What if it's a murderer? I could be dead as soon as I pulled the cover off!

"I feel like one of those idiot girls on the horror movies," I muttered as I reached for the cover again with a sense of foreboding. I slowly curled my fingers around the edge and took a deep breath. If I died, I would be prepared! I whipped back the sheet.

And screamed.

A pair of glowing red eyes stared back at me. I jumped back and fell to the floor, terrified. A dark silhouette rose from the bed, reaching, reaching. I crawled backward until I hit the opposite bed, trying to get away from its hand… that turned on the lamp in the middle of the two beds.

The dim light shone on Haku, sitting on the bed, her legs tangled in the blankets. She rubbed her red eyes tiredly and looked around the room before finally lowering her gaze to look at me still sprawled on the floor.

"Neru?" She said in a tired voice, "What are you doing here?"

"Um, I live here, remember?" I said in a snarky voice, hoping it covered up my shaking voice.

"What's wrong? Did I scare you again?" she raised her eyebrows in a question.

I pushed myself in a sitting position and crossed my arms tightly over my chest. "It's your eyes! They creep me out," I said, avoiding her gaze. She giggled quietly.

"You're just paranoid Neru, my eyes are perfectly normal!"

"Normal people don't have red eyes…" I let my sentence trail off as I yawned.

"You should sleep or you won't be able to stay awake in class tomorrow," she chastised. I stared at her a second before answering.

"Tomorrow is Saturday," I said as I got up and walked over to the only window in the room.

"Really?" she said in an excited voice," Then I don't have to wait for this!" she reached under her bed and pulled out a full sake bottle.

"You found Meiko's stash again, huh?" Meiko hid her not so secret alcohol in a new place almost every week in an attempt to discourage the thief that kept stealing it, even though it never worked.

"Yup!" she said as she threw her head back as she let the liquid run down her throat. "It's not like it's hard, she hides it in the most obvious places. It was under her desk this time." I sighed and looked back out the window and opened it slowly, flinching as it squealed.

"Just don't get caught, okay? I have enough problems without getting you out of trouble." I rubbed my bare arms as a brisk wind blew in. The room would be like a freezer in the morning, but I only sighed. It would be even worse if someone smelled the alcohol in our room. I walked away from the window to sit across from Haku on my bed, watching her as she downed another ridiculously large amount from the bottle.

"I won't. You of all people should know how good I am." she flopped back down on the still tangled bed, trying unsuccessfully to straighten them before giving up and propping herself up halfway so that she could still drink uninterrupted.

I, on the other hand, laid down on my bed, still fully dressed. I was too exhausted to bother changing my clothes. I was just falling asleep when I heard the highly annoying sound of footsteps outside my door. The person went by and I breathed a small sigh of relief, thankful that I wasn't disturbed too much when the person came running back and I heard and knock loud enough to wake the whole dorm, followed by a gasp and a few quieter knocks.

I stayed in my bed, hoping that the person would just go away if I ignored them. I groaned and turned my head to Haku as the knocking continued, finding her passed out with the sake bottle dangling from the tips of her fingers. I heaved myself out of the bed and snatched the bottle from her, hiding it under the floorboards under her bed along with the rest of her stolen goods. I strode over to the door and yanked it open, ready to slap the person on the other side.

"What do you want?" I snapped as the door opened, only to swallow the insulting words I was planning on saying to the person. On the other side of the door was Len, trembling slightly, an agitated look in his eyes. I blushed as he started at my harsh words clasping his hands in front of his chest and looking down at me as if he thought coming to me wasn't a very good idea.

"Len!" I stuttered, trying to gain control of my shaking body, running my hand through my messy hair. "Um… why are you here? Wait, no, come in first."

"Thanks…" He let his sentence trail off as I led him to sit on my bed. I sat on the end of it, folding my legs under me and turning to face him. He turned his head towards me before gazing at the floor at his feet. He truly did look distraught.

"So what's wrong? There must be some reason for you to show up at my door at…" I looked at the clock by the bed. "11:30 at night."

"It's just… It's Rin. She's disappeared and I can't find her!" He said as he wrung his hands together. I nodded as his troubled demeanor made sense. He loved his twin more than anything.

"I'm sure she's fine, Len. She's probably just…at someone else's house," I reassured him, even though I doubted my own theory. Her whole life was here; she had brought Len here with her a few years back with a story of robbers killing their parents while they were on a school trip. She had nowhere else to go.

"She has nowhere else to go!" he exclaimed, eerily echoing my thoughts."Besides, she wouldn't just leave without telling anyone. She didn't text you did she?"

"No, I would have told you if she did. What happened? Did you see her before she disappeared?"

"Yeah, we were sitting in our room, talking, and when she got this weird look in her eyes. It was like she wasn't really there anymore. I mean, she was there sitting next to me, but her mind was just…gone."

I nodded, encouraging him to keep talking. "And…"

"And then she just left. She stood up and walked out the door really quickly, like she was rushing to get somewhere really important. I called her name but it was like she didn't hear me. She didn't even look at me. Neru, there was something seriously wrong with her. You have to help me find her." He sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry, Len." I cover his hand with mine and smiled at him reassuringly. "We'll find her." I got up and started towards the door. Now that I'm up I might as well do something useful. I looked back at Len who was still sitting on my bed. "Aren't you coming?"

His head jerked up as I wrenched him from his thoughts. "Oh! Yes! Thank you so much Neru you have no idea-"

"Its fine," I interrupted him. "Lets find your sister okay? The sooner she shows up, the sooner we all can sleep." I spun on my heel and walked out the door, Len trailing behind me.

"Okay, were have you searched already?" I asked him when we got in the hallway.

"Actually I haven't searched anywhere yet," He admitted with a guilty look on his face. "I've been asking people if they've seen her."

"How long has she been missing, exactly?" I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows in a question.

"Almost two hours. But!" he said loudly as I started to interrupt him again, "I thought it would be better if I started searching for her soon, so she doesn't disappear completely. I have a really bad feeling about this, Neru. Something isn't right."

I sighed "Alright, since you haven't looked anywhere we should split up to save time." I pointed down the hall to the left. "You will go that way," I pointed the opposite way, "And I will go this way, okay?"

"Yes. I've got it."

"You have your phone right?" He nodded and put his hand into his pocket. "Good. Text me if you find anything. I'll do the same." I began walking in the direction I had just assigned myself.

"Neru! Wait…" I turned my head in his direction. "Be careful okay? Something is going on. I don't know what it is but it feels… malevolent."

I smiled before beginning my journey once again. "Don't worry, Len. I can take care of myself." I heard him murmur something unidentifiable under his breath before walking down the opposite hall.

I strode down the hall and turned at the first intersection I found. I heaved a sigh and glanced around the hall. It was the dreariest color. Some kind of mixture of brown and green, producing an unattractive outcome. It seemed as if it went on forever, the dim lighting creating disturbing shadows on the wall, interrupted only by the occasional door. As I continued down the ridiculously long hallway I grew more anxious, jumping at every little sound that I heard. I quickly looked around me and hurried forward, quickening my pace.

I finally rounded a corner into a well lit hall and slowed down. I gasped slightly and looked down at the carpeted floor in front of me as I recognized where I was, trying my hardest to look inconspicuous. Somehow I had gotten to the very back of the dorm, where the professors' rooms were. I twisted my head around and looked down the hall that I knew would lead me back to my bed longingly before heaving a sigh and continuing down the path before me. I had promised Len I would help him, I could abandon him now.

As I neared the end of the dreaded corridor I swore under my breath. There, at the corner that could either doom my mission or relieve the panic I felt at being discovered, was Meiko's office. She came here to drink in the middle of the night, and judging by how she acted when we met in the hall earlier, she would most likely be in there.

I quieted my step as I neared the office. There was a large window stretching from her door to the corner. There was no possible way I could just nonchalantly walk past it. She would see me instantly. I grinned as an idea popped into my head.

I got close to the edge of the window and dropped to my knees. I was just barely small enough to crawl under the edge of the glass. I heard a slightly muffled voice I knew to be Meiko's say something. I probably could have heard her if I listened, but my mind was directed on staying as silent as possible.

I had nearly arrived at the border of the window when I heard a second, younger voice respond. I froze in surprise before scrambling around the corner and shifting so that I could see into the room without being obvious. As I had guessed, Meiko was sitting behind her desk, a half empty bottle on the desk in front of her. I narrowed my eyes as I saw Rin, standing before her.

Why would she be here of all places? I shook my head and retreated behind the edge of the corner as I pulled out my phone to text Len to meet me back in front of my room. I crept back around the edge again and peered through the glass, straining to hear what they were talking about. It sounded as if their conversation was almost over.

"…anyone noticed you're gone yet?" asked Meiko.

"I don't think so ma'am. I tried to remain unnoticed," Rin replied. Her definition of unnoticed must differ greatly from mine, I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"Good, good," Meiko said absently, as if thinking of something. They stayed in silence long enough for me to start fidgeting. Suddenly Meiko clapped her hands together loudly, making me jump.

"Rin, I want you to go to the facility immediately. Make sure you are seen by none and get there as soon as possible. Understand?"

"I understand." I quickly flew back around the corner as she strode purposefully toward the door. I flattened myself against the wall and watched as she came to the intersection of the halls and turned to go the opposite way, showing no sign she had seen me.

I got up to follow her when I felt a hand wrap around my arm, halting my progress. I stopped and turned around, my hazel eyes meeting reddish-brown ones. A twisted smile crept onto Meiko's face as she gazed at my startled expression.

"Now what could you possibly be doing wandering the halls at this time of night? I thought I had made myself clear that you should be in bed right now." She tightened her viselike grip on my arm as I tried to free myself. I hastily pulled together an excuse.

"I, um, saw a student walk past my room towards the boy's dorm. I thought I should follow her so that nothing happened. I think I got lost…" I grimaced at my pathetic story. I knew this building like the back of my hand, and Meiko knew that.

"I'm sure you did," she said sarcastically as she yawned. She released my arm. "Well go back to your room, and stay there this time. Make sure you report to my office tomorrow at 11. I'm too tired to come up with a proper punishment for you." She spun on her heel and retreated back into her office leaving me standing alone in the hall.

I shook my head to clear the shock from the strange encounter. I started back down the hall towards my room. The walk back wasn't any more pleasant than it was before. I fixed my eyes on the floor in front of me, determined to ignore the shadows that seemed to be jumping out at me as I mulled over what just happened.

What was that that just happened? And just what exactly is this facility Meiko sent Rin to. She had made it sound incredibly important. The more I thought about it, the more I believed Len was right. Something strange was definitely going on.

I finally came to my room to find Len sitting in front of my door, his back pressed against the opposite wall. He looked up at me as I crouched in front of him. Without waiting for an invitation from him I told him all that had happened.

"Where do you think it is, Neru?" he asked when I finished my speech. "The facility, I mean"

"You aren't really thinking of going after her are you? I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it. You shouldn't get caught up in it," I warned him, but to no avail.

"Of course I'm going after her!" he exclaimed. "I can't just stay here and do nothing while my twin is off somewhere doing who knows what." He looked back to the ground.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be fine." He looked up at me with an unbelieving expression on his face. "Go to sleep. It's late. If it makes you feel any better we can start looking for information on this facility tomorrow after Meiko lets me go, okay?" This seemed to placate him, at least temporarily. He got up and walked down the long hall toward his room.

I turned and opened the door, shivering as the cold wind from the room hit me. I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to stay warm as I walked into the freezing room. I looked over to the window, still open. Haku had forgotten to close it. At the thought of Haku I looked over to her bed. Once again she was curled under the covers, her sleeping form barely discernable. I looked at the clock by my bed and groaned. 3am.

I sat on the edge of my bed and reached for the clock, setting the alarm for 10:30 so I would get up in time for Meiko's Punishment, whatever it was. I started to lay down to finally go to sleep when another draft blew into the room, blowing over me.

I sighed overdramatically and dragged myself over to the window to shut it. As I was pulling it down I looked out into the dark school grounds. Someone was walking down the hill that the school was placed on, toward the border of the grounds. I stuck my head out as I recognized her.

"Rin!" I called out to her, hoping to get her to stop. She turned her head in my direction for only a second. All I saw before she started running away was a halo of yellow hair, and red eyes.

Glowing red eyes.

**Once again I'm very sorry that this took so long. The ending was kind of crappy, in my opinion, but I was writing this last night and I had this really amazing thing I was going to put at the end. And then, my grandparents made me go to bed and I forgot it in the morning. I had to make do.**

**Oh, and a big thank you to Neru Akita (not mine) and KYVampire for actually reviewing. You have no idea how happy that made me. And of course, Hinata Aron, who gave me this idea! (kind of…) I love you guys **


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow it took forever to finish this chapter! I'm really, really sorry for those of you who have been waiting for this, but… the holidays, with writers block, with my normal laziness wasn't a very good combination. I promise I'll try very hard to write the next chapter much faster!**

**Perfect**

**Chapter 4**

I woke to a screeching in my ear. Turning my head, I glared at the beeping clock by my bed as I slammed my hand down on it as hard as possible. I groaned as I pulled myself up, pushing my wild, yellow hair out of my face. I started as I heard a small sound of protest behind me. I twisted my head around to see Haku maneuver herself so that just her eyes could be seen; glowing from the dark recesses of the warm cave she had made for herself. They glared at me reproachfully.

"No decent person should be up at this hour Neru," she said as she shifted to get comfortable on the rumpled bed. I looked over to the clock.

"Its 10:32 Haku. All decent people are up by now," I corrected as I stretched my arms high above my head, opening my mouth in a yawn.

"Well its Saturday. That's an exception," she argued, her disembodied eyes following me as I stood and walked over to the door of the bathroom connected to our room to brush my teeth.

"You're just irritated because you have a hangover," I said before I stuck the toothbrush in my mouth. I looked out the door out of the corner of my eye, watching Haku disappear back under her covers, only to spin around in a circle on her bed and reveal her eyes to me once more. I rolled my eyes and proceeded to ignore her piercing gaze as I finished brushing my teeth.

I walked out of the bathroom and collapsed on my still sleep rumpled bed. I looked over to the clock once more. 10:40. I had plenty of time. I let my head drop back down and looked at the ceiling. The bright sunlight streaming into the room from the small window wouldn't allow me to sleep anymore. I sighed as I turned my head to the side and glanced around the room, squinting at the bright colors.

Since this was our room, we were allowed to paint it, as long as the walls were white when we moved out. We made sure to take full advantage of the privilege, but didn't know what color to paint it. I said yellow, Haku said purple. After more than a week of arguing we finally came to a compromise, if a strange one at that. We decided that we would paint half the room purple, and half the room yellow. The result was difficult to look at without squinting, but it made both of us happy. I heard rustling next to me as Haku moved again, jerking me out of my thoughts.

"You know, if you go to sleep now you'll never get up." I turned my head in her direction to see she had turned around again.

"Don't treat me like I'm a child! I can wake up in time."

"Hey now, don't blame me, I'm just looking out for you." I rolled my eyes at her amused tone. "But you seriously need to brush your hair. It looks like shit."

I ran my hand self consciously through my hair only to get it caught on a tangle. I grimaced as I extracted my hand and opened the drawer in the table beside me, reaching for the brush I knew was inside. I groped around for it before looking into the drawer. Empty. I heard another rustle and turned my head towards it.

A pale hand appeared from under the purple cover. I sighed in frustration as I saw the hair brush that was clutched in it. I sighed.

"Ok, give it here." I rolled my eyes as she disappeared back under her cover, becoming an indiscernible lump again. I got up and bridged the gap between our beds so I was hovering over her. I stood there until it became apparent that the hand wasn't going to resurface and grabbed the edge of the cover, pulling it off the bed so that it lay in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Haku groaned and covered her bloodshot eyes with both her hands, abandoning the brush by her side. I didn't hesitate to snatch it up.

"Neru!" She whined, "give me back the cover! The light hurts my eyes…" She looked at me between her fingers when I didn't respond. I made a dismissive noise and gathered it in my arms, throwing it on my bed. I sat down on the fabric to prevent her from getting it.

"Your only delaying it, you'll have to get up eventually," I said in a mothering tone of voice, giving her a pointed look as I ran the brush trough my hair. She returned it with a glare of her own before closing her eyes and sighing.

"No. I don't have to get up eventually. As I said before, its Saturday. Your just pissed that you have to go meet Meiko and receive your 'Punishment'." She stretched and pushed herself up to the top of the bed, leaning her back against the head board. I huffed indignantly and look away as she smirked.

"Well how would you like it if you had to go meet her for some mysterious punishment? I don't even have any clue what it is! It could be something weird for all I know…" I let my sentence trail off as I looked down at the floor and let my hand fall to my lap.

"I dunno, Neru." I could hear the amusement in her voice. "I didn't think she swung that way, but if you know something I don-"

"Haku! Not that kind of weird!" I rolled my eyes at her as my face heated up at the suggestion. "That is definitely not happening," I said firmly. I heard Haku giggle slightly.

"Oh, you're so much fun, so easy to tease," she said in a delighted voice. "Umm, Neru…" I looked up to see her pointing at the clock. I jumped up quickly as I read the time. 10:56. It took at least 10 minutes to get to her office. I quickly ran back in the bathroom to grab a hair tie.

"Have fun!" I heard Haku tease as I ran out the door, hurriedly pulling my hair up in my usually side pony tail as I ran down the hall in the direction I knew Meiko would be.

Meiko might be a slacker when it came to her duties, since she was usually more interested in drinking or harassing some innocent random, but she had a total lockdown on being prudent. If you were just one minute late to an appointment, she wouldn't hesitate to come down on your head. Viciously. Her punishments were always harsh.

I ran down the last hall to her office and skidded to a halt in front of the door, putting my hand flat against the wall for support as I struggled to catch my breath. I straightened up and turned to her door when my breathing had slowed to a normal pace. I took a final deep breath as I knocked on the door.

"Come in," I heard Meiko say loudly. I opened the door and pushed it shut behind me, leaving it slightly open. You never know when you will need people to hear your screams. I suppressed a smile at the thought.

"Well, it took you long enough didn't it? I thought you would never get here," she said with a scornful expression. I looked at the clock and sure enough, the big hand was just barely past the twelve. I sighed lightly and made a small sound of annoyance, not going unnoticed from the brunette. She narrowed her eyes at me as I spoke.

"I'm very sorry, Professor Sakine. I came here as quickly as I could," I tried reasoning with her, but to no avail.

"It doesn't matter; I'll just add it to your overall punishment. Think of it as a sort of credit, you can do whatever you want, Neru, but you will have to pay me back later."

"Of course...," I let my sentence die out as I waited for her to tell me what I had come here for, the dreaded punishment. She leaned forward in her seat and put her elbows on the desk in front of her, lacing her fingers together.

"I have thought this over all night and couldn't come up with a sufficient punishment for you, seeing as all other punishments I give you never seem to work. I have decided that I will have you clean the basement under this building. Monday through Saturday at 4pm until I have decided you have finished it." She sat back in her chair and proceeded to look incredibly pleased with her decision. I crossed my arms and frowned at her.

"Are you sure that's safe?" I asked doubtfully.

"Of course it's safe!" She countered indignantly. "What are you afraid of a few rats?"

"But who knows what could be down there? No one even goes down there anymore. There could be a freaking dragon down there and no one would know!"

"I believe we would notice if there was anything dangerous in this school," she drawled with a disinterested expression plastered on her face. "If you're really that worried just take a large knife down there or something. You're a big girl; you can take care of yourself." I rolled my eyes at her and spun around to leave.

"Oh, and Neru!" I halted as she called my name. "I heard you were looking for Rin." I turned around and looked at her with what I hoped was an indifferent expression.

"Yeah, what about it? She went missing so I was worried about her, anyone would be." Even I could hear the uneven tone of my voice. The mention of her name made me remember the way her eyes had glowed last night under the moonlight as I shuddered imperceptibly.

"I want you to leave this alone." I blinked at the sudden malice that laced her sugary sweet tone. "You don't want to get into something that doesn't concern you, now do you Neru?" I began to turn back around as I answered her, eager to get out of the conversation.

"Of course not, now if you'll excuse me…" I grabbed the handle again without waiting for her answer.

"Of course, just make sure you're down there by 4. Don't be late; trust me when I say I'll know." I sighed and stepped out of her office, making sure the door was shut firmly behind me as I strode back down the hall toward my room. Might as well rest before I had to go down into the basement.

"Basement. More like dungeon. I wouldn't be surprised if I found a pile of bones down there," I muttered to myself. No one had dared to go down there in years. I was sure there was some rule preventing me from going there as well, but Meiko was probably just trying to push one of her duties onto my shoulders.

I got to my room and opened the door so that I could slip inside. I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time today when I saw Haku had stolen her blanket back and was curled up on her bed. I decided against waking her and fell back on my bed, pulling a cover up to my chin and closing my eyes. It wasn't even 11:30 yet, I had time to get a little more sleep in before I had to go clean the horror I knew would await me in the basement.

**Uhhh yea I really wanted to add more to this chapter but I really wanted to post it so I'm sorry that it's pathetically short! Once again ill try to post up chapter 5 soon. Since I finally have a computer of my own, that shouldn't be a problem. REVIEW! Or I will kill you slowly with a dull spoon :T….. I'm not kidding**


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